End of School Flea Market Attracts College Students to Sell Their Used Goods in Los Angeles

visitors at CSSA flea market

visitors at CSSA flea market

LOS ANGELES, May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- As graduation approaches, CSSA (Chinese Students & Scholars Association) hosted an on-campus flea market event for Chinese students recently graduated from the University of South California (USC) to sell their used goods before heading home. The USC Chinese Students & Scholars Association also collaborated with Xianyu, the fast-emerging Chinese second-hand marketplace application to provide a secure online platform for an alternative selling solution. CSSA described this event as a way to farewell to school on their social media channels.

Before the event, more than 300 Chinese students posted nearly 600 used items on Xian Yu. Those used items contain the furniture, books, living accessories, and electronics of international students that studies abroad.

The flea market takes place at Viterbi Square, in front of USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Hundreds of fascinating Chinese cultural goods were displayed on the market. Most of the sellers are the current USC students who will leave campus in the upcoming couples of days.

The most popular category displayed was the kitchen tools. Cooking is a particular way for Chinese students to beat their homesickness during their study years in a foreign country.

"I'm a big fan of Chinese hot pot and cannot live without it. That is why I brought this very traditional and classic hotpot from China when I first came to the US. I bet this is the only traditional Chengdu-style hotpot you can find in the Los Angeles," said by Su, a student tried to sell his traditional hot pot in the flea market. This hotpot attracted many students to inquiry the price, and some of them showed their surprise to see the hotpot and took the pictures to post on the social media.

The event attracted not only international students but also American students. Ariel, an American graduate student at USC, bought the hotpot. Ariel said he is learning Chinese now after visited China once and he loves Chinese food. This is his first time to see the Chengdu-style hotpot, and he really wanted to try it with his friends.

Most students sold their items during the five-hour event. "Our original goal is to help international students to sell their stuff that they can't bring back to their home country, and the app allows them to make it happen easily. It's also a good platform for new students to get ready for their school life in the United States. From today's event, we are so glad to see the students wrap up the college studies and get ready to open a new chapter of their new lives," said by Jennifer, the event representative.